COO Aviagen Broiler Breeding Group

Aviagen•Huntsville, AL

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The COO role has been created in recognition that the organization’s growth, scale, and global complexity have expanded the scope of the CEO position beyond what can be sustainably managed. As the company continues to grow, dedicated executive capacity is required to focus on capital investment discipline, production systems, and group-level operational insight, serving as the primary point of contact for GP, GGP and Pedigree production and Capex matters across the organization. This position will serve as a member of the Aviagen Group Board and will be accountable for reporting on all matters related to operations and CAPEx. In this capacity, the COO will provide the Board with transparent insight into operational performance, production standards, capital deployment, and execution risks, ensuring informed oversight and timely decision-making.

Requirements

Experience in capital investment discipline, production systems, and group-level operational insight.
Experience serving as a primary point of contact for GP, GGP and Pedigree production and Capex matters.
Experience reporting on all matters related to operations and CAPEx.
Experience providing transparent insight into operational performance, production standards, capital deployment, and execution risks.
Experience setting enterprise production standards.
Experience directing day-to-day operational execution.
Experience enforcing performance accountability.
Experience intervening decisively when results fall short.
Experience as a primary operating partner for global production matters.
Experience establishing and maintaining senior level working relationships with Regional Presidents and their leadership teams.
Experience establishing and maintaining global production standards and performance benchmarks.
Experience providing structured challenges and escalation where production performance, discipline, or execution deviates from agreed standards.
Experience coordinating with regional leadership to embed agreed production standards into local operating practices, management routines, and performance review processes.
Experience driving continuous improvement initiatives across a global production footprint.
Experience strengthening alignment between strategic objectives, capital deployment, and operational execution.
Experience evaluating, challenging, and prioritizing major proposed investments in global production operations.
Experience conducting ongoing monitoring of approved capital investments.
Experience holding leaders accountable for early identification and escalation of deviations in cost, schedule, or performance.
Experience ensuring post-investment reviews and lessons learned are incorporated into future capital planning and execution discipline.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with group R&D to define required methods, controls, and metrics.
Experience updating standards as business needs, technology, or regulatory requirements evolve.
Experience in coaching, restructuring, or personnel decisions as required.
Experience facilitating resolution of any cross-regional trade-offs.
Experience ensuring capital deployment aligns with strategic priorities, production requirements, and risk tolerance.

Responsibilities

Own global Aviagen Pedigree and GGP production with direct line authority over operating leaders and production functions.
Be fully accountable for production efficiency, execution quality, and operating cost for Aviagen pedigrees and GGPs worldwide.
Set enterprise production standards, including establishing, approving, and maintaining required production standards, operating procedures, and performance expectations to ensure consistency, safety, quality, and efficiency.
Direct day-to-day operational execution by providing leadership and direction over daily production operations, including setting priorities, allocating resources, approving operating plans, and resolving execution issues.
Enforce performance accountability by holding leaders and teams directly accountable for meeting agreed production, cost, quality, and delivery targets.
Intervene decisively when production performance, discipline, or results deviate from expectations by directing immediate corrective actions, reallocating resources, changing operating approaches, or making leadership changes.
Act as the CEO’s primary operating partner for global production matters, integrating production performance, and mitigating operational risk into a cohesive enterprise view.
Provide enterprise-level coordination, governance, and technical leadership by defining standards, facilitating cross-regional alignment, challenging assumptions, and ensuring transparent performance reporting.
Establish and maintain senior level working relationships with Regional Presidents and their leadership teams to balance business unit, regional, and enterprise priorities.
Establish and maintain global production standards and performance benchmarks, ensuring clarity of expectations, comparability of results, and transparency of performance across regions and operating units.
Provide structured challenges and escalation where production performance, discipline, or execution deviates from agreed standards.
Ensure consistent execution, efficiency, and quality by coordinating with regional leadership to embed agreed production standards into local operating practices, management routines, and performance review processes.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives across the global production footprint, identifying systemic bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and cost drivers; sponsoring cross-regional improvement efforts; and ensuring lessons learned are captured, shared, and adopted group-wide.
Strengthen alignment between strategic objectives, capital deployment, and operational execution, ensuring production capabilities, capacity plans, and improvement initiatives are directly linked to enterprise priorities and approved investment strategies.
Ensure all major proposed investments in the global production operations are rigorously evaluated, challenged, and prioritized prior to CEO final review and approval.
Conduct ongoing monitoring of approved capital investments, tracking performance against financial, operational, and timeline expectations.
Hold leaders accountable for early identification and escalation of deviations in cost, schedule, or performance, and drive timely intervention in partnership with the CEO and regional leadership.
Ensure post-investment reviews and lessons learned are incorporated into future capital planning and execution discipline.